Tuesday 8 September 2015

Book ~ "The Scam" (2015) Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg

From Goodreads ~ Nicolas Fox is a charming con man and master thief on the run. Kate O’Hare is the FBI agent who is hot on his trail. At least that’s what everyone thinks. In reality, Fox and O’Hare are secretly working together to bring down super-criminals the law can’t touch. Criminals like brutal casino magnate Evan Trace.

Evan Trace is running a money-laundering operation through his casino in Macau. Some of his best customers are mobsters, dictators and global terrorists. Nick and Kate will have to go deep undercover as high-stakes gamblers, wagering millions of dollars - and their lives - in an attempt to topple Trace’s empire.

It’s a scam that will take Fox and O’Hare from the Las Vegas strip, to the sun-soaked beaches of Oahu’s North Shore and into the dark back alleys of Macau. Their only backup - a self-absorbed actor, a Somali pirate and Kate’s father, an ex-soldier who believes a rocket launcher is the best way to solve every problem. What could possibly go wrong? 

Everyone thinks Nick is a con man and thief and Kate, an FBI agent, is trying to catch him.  But in reality, Nick had been caught and is now secretly working with Kate and the FBI.  Only a handful of people are aware of this.

Their latest case has them trying to bring down Evan Trace, who runs a money-laundering operation through his casinos.  But then Kate gets a call from her father, Jake, that his friend in Hawaii has been attacked and his food truck blown up by Olika, the major drug distributor for a Japanese crime syndicate.  Jake wants revenge so Nick and Kate decide to readjust their plan to including also bringing down Olika.

Nick and Kate put together their team which includes Jake, a former Somali pirate, an actor who takes his parts too seriously, a dad who build treehouses, a buxom redneck who wants to drive anything (regardless whether she's had training or not) and an awarding winning special effects artist.

This is the latest in the Fox and O'Hare series ... I've them read all and enjoyed them.  I liked this book and the story ... it was interesting to see how they pulled this scam together.  Yes, it's far-fetched at times so I had to leave my sense of belief at the door and go with it ... and I was okay with that.  I liked the writing style and thought it flowed well and found it amusing.  It ends with a cliffhanger.

I liked Kate and Nick and enjoyed their interactions and banters.  I liked the other supporting characters.  They were fun and quirky.

I hope they continue with this series.

2 comments:

Lee Goldberg said...

Thanks for the great review. I hope you enjoyed the nod to Hortons :-)

Teena in Toronto said...

It did give me a chuckle! We love our Tim Hortons here :)